PU attack issue: Taseer criticised Punjab govt

Taseer flays Punjab govt laxity on PU issue
Lahore, Apr 07: Governor Salman Taseer has criticised the Punjab government, saying it is embarrassing that none of the miscreants involved in thrashing and injuring a Punjab University (PU) teacher has been arrested so far.

'The Punjab police have to arrest them to set an example so that no such unfortunate incident takes place in future,' the governor, who is also chancellor of the PU, said on Tuesday while talking to the media persons at the university. He visited the PU to inquire after Prof Dr Iftikhar Hussain Baloch, Principal PU College of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Dr Baloch, the chairman of the PU Disciplinary Committee, was attacked by dozens of the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) activists in his office on April 1. Besides damaging Dr Balochís office and official car, the Jamiat activists also attacked the VC Office and his official residence after the university expelled some students, belonging to the IJT, for breaching discipline.

The Punjab governor said those involved in the incident were the same who had opened fire on some PU students in November last.

'At that time too I had asked the government to arrest those involved but to no avail,' he said, adding that everybody knew who these people were and where they lived.

To a question, Taseer said law and order and education were subjects of the provincial government.

'It is also unfortunate that the Punjab province, having population of 80 millions, and bigger in size than many European countries, does not have a regular minister for education,' he maintained.

Salman Taseer further said it was right of teachers and students to continue protesting till the arrest of the responsible people. To a question, he termed the statement of Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Munawwar Hassan against the PU VC Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran as unfortunate, saying that the incident must not be made a political issue. The governor said the day of incident was indeed a black day not only for the PU but for all the universities of the country.

'The incident has made headlines internationally as the PU is a prominent institution not only in Pakistan but in the world,' he said.

Earlier, talking to Dr Iftikhar Baloch, the governor said he was in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh and Islamabad owing to which he could not come to inquire after him earlier.

PU VC Dr Mujahid Kamran, Pro VC Prof Dr Jamil Anwer, Registrar Prof Dr Muhammad Naeem Khan and other faculty members were also present.

Dr Iftikhar Baloch informed the governor that he and his family members were still receiving threats from the IJT activists. He said it was unfortunate that no-one was arrested yet. He was also critical of the Punjab government, saying: 'If the government is determined, it can arrest the culprits even in six hours.'

PUASA Secretary General Prof Javed Samee said many teachers had been receiving frequent threats, adding that it was responsibility of the government to take action against the miscreants.

Earlier, Senior Advisor to Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa, during his visit to the residence of Dr Iftikhar Baloch at the PU, said the government would ensure the sanctity of teachers as well as educational institutions. He said all possible steps would be taken for the maintenance of law and order and protection of teachers. He also issued instructions to the police to arrest those who attacked Dr Baloch.

Advisor to CM Raja Ashfaq Sarwar, MPA Zaeem Qadri, Khawaja Ahmed Hasaan, CCPO Lahore Pervez Rathor, SSP Suhail Ahmed, VC Dr Mujahid Kamran as well as teachers besides media persons were also present

Later, the Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa held a meeting with police officials and the PU administration in the VC office and directed the authorities concerned to award punishment to the responsible so that no untoward incident could happen in future.

He said the chief minister had taken a serious notice of the incident and issued instructions to the law enforcing agencies/police to eliminate the hooliganism from the university.

'The government will provide all-out cooperation to the university administration for the maintenance of peaceful atmosphere and no individual or organization would be allowed to disturb the academic atmosphere in the educational institutions,' he maintained.

Meanwhile, the PU Academic Staff Association (PUASA), after its general body meeting at the Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology again staged a peaceful protest.

The rally was led by PUASA Acting President Dr Abdul Ghaffar and Secretary General Prof Javed Samee on the fifth consecutive day to record their protest against the IJT activists attack on Prof Dr Baloch.

Javed Samee said classes would not start till the arrest of the culprits nominated in the FIR and peaceful atmosphere for academic and research activities with a guarantee of foolproof protection to the lives and property of teachers and students.

He said the PUASA action committee would meet on Wednesday (today) to finalise a strategy for stepping up the protest campaign. The news

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Academic staff associations condemn IJT attack on PU professor
Islamabad: Academic Staff Association (ASA) of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) on Tuesday condemned the manhandling of Punjab University (PU) Chairman Discipline Committee Professor Dr Iftikhar Hussain Baloch allegedly by Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) activists.

Addressing the meeting specially convened to discuss the situation and plan further strategy, all the members of ASA expressed their solidarity with the professor and assured him their full cooperation in seeking justice.

They demanded the Punjab government and PU vice-chancellor (VC) to award exemplary punishment to the IJT activists, who, they said, were responsible for roughing up the professor.

They also demanded registration of FIR against those involved in the assault. Meanwhile, meeting of Federation of All Pakistan ASA has been called to devise future course of action.

Function would be held at AIOU's auditorium on April 19 at 11:00am in connection with Allama Iqbal's death anniversary. Renowned scholar Justice (r) Dr Javed Iqbal will present special papers in the function. AIOU VC Professor Dr Nazir Ahmed Sangi will preside over the function, while Dean Faculty of Social Sciences Professor Dr Abdul Hafiz will also address on the occasion.

Earlier, the ASA of Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), Islamabad had also taken serious note of the incident of hooliganism by Punjab University's (PU) students against the Principal, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences and PU's Discipline Committee Chairman Professor Dr Iftikhar Baloch.

ASA President Dr Aitzaz Ahmad and Secretary Dr Gulraiz Akhter condemned the incident in strongest possible terms. They demanded the Punjab governor and Punjab chief minister bring those responsible to justice.

The president said that if those responsible were not immediately punished, he would summon an urgent meeting of ASA' Executive Council to chalk out a strategy for the future. Meanwhile both the secretary and the president expressed full solidarity with the injured professor and assured their unconditional support to the teachers of PU. Daily times

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PU MBBS, DTCD results
Lahore: The Punjab University (PU) Examinations Department announced the results of various examinations on Tuesday. According to a press statement, these exams included MBBS, Final Professional (Re-Organized Scheme), Annual Examination 2009, MBBS, Final Professional (New Re-Organized Scheme), Annual Examination 2009 and Diploma in Tuberculosis and Chest Diseases (DTCD), Annual Examination 2007. The detailed results are available at PU website: www.pu.edu.pk. The news

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Feb 19 violence: 16 IUB students expelled
Bahawalpur: Committee on indiscipline and misconduct (CIM) of the Islamia University Bahawalpur (IUB) on Tuesday expelled 16 out of 46 students for one to two years along with a fine of Rs6,000 each involved in the Feb 19 violence.

According to a notification issued by the university registrar, the 16 students included 13 of the engineering department, two of economics namely Qadeer Hasan and Hasnain Altaf and Usman Sohail of media studies.

The 13 expelled from the engineering department are Saad Naseer, Sheraz Aslam, Usman Ali, Yasin Minhas, Habibur Rehman, Abdul Samad, Mudasar Yousaf, Waseem Abbas, Zainul Abadin, Waseem Akram, Ishaq Ahmed, Nokaiz Tariq and Rana Irfan Ali.

Besides, eight students were fined to the tune of Rs6,000 each while 13 were placed under probation from three months to one-year period and nine were acquitted.

The notification said: "The competent authority reserves its decision on the recovery of damages of breakages, loss and destruction of university property. A decision on the recovery of Rs4.4 million loss suffered by the university will be formulated, finalised and announced later."

It further said reported loss of Rs500,000 by Ali Hall residents through destruction of their valuables and property would also be recovered through a separate order. The notification concluded with a ban on entry of "guilty" students to all university's campuses.

Earlier, a number of students of other departments joined the protest initiated by their fellow students of engineering college of the IUB.

The striking students claimed that students of other departments joined the protest rallies taken out on Tuesday on the premises of Baghdadul Jadid campus.

The protesters lamented that the university administration did not take steps to resolve the issue due to which their future was at stake. The engineering college students have been demanding restoration of their sacked principal and students.

On the other hand, the university administration claimed that that they had offered a `workable' solution to the striking students, who were adamant on restoration of the sacked principal. Dawn

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'Flawed policy causes Rs 160m loss to BISE'
Lahore: Employees Welfare Association of the Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore has claimed that the board has to incur a loss of Rs 160 million during fiscal year owing to 'wrong' implementation of chief minister's decision to waive off admission and registration fee from students of government schools.

A press release said that an important meeting of the EWA was held on Tuesday, which criticised chief minister's 'ignorance' and 'silence' over the issue and 'conspiracy' by board's administration and the bureaucracy in this regard.

The meeting chaired by EWA President Muhammad Aslam Gujjar said those in authority knew it very well that except examination fees, the boards could not survive. It observed the government assured immediate release of grants after recent protests but nothing had been implemented so far.

The EWA statement also claimed that BISE Lahore had to face additional loss of Rs 140 million owing to recent 50 per cent increase in remuneration for marking of answer papers.

The association demanded of the CM to take notice of the issue and immediately release grant for the BISE Lahore. The news

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Education moot
Lahore: University of Education will held the second international conference on "Realizing the Millennium Development Goals Through Teacher Education".

University spokesman Zabir Saeed said experts would present papers in the conference. Delegates from many countries will participate in it, he added.

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HEC Inter-University Hockey UC Punjab, GCU Faisalabad triumph
Peshawar: University of Central Punjab and Government College University, Faisalabad teams off to flying start after recording victories on the opening day of the HEC Inter-University Men Hockey Championship, which got under way here at University Campus ground under the aegis of Directorate of Sports University of Peshawar here on Wednesday. Vice Chancellor University of Peshawar Professor Dr. Azmat Hayat was the chief guest on this occasion. He also declared the Championship open in which teams from all 13 Universities are taking part. Punjab University would defend its title.

Initially 64 teams of the higher education institutions took part. The teams had been divided into eight different zones and two teams each qualified for the final round, the University of Peshawar is hosting. Before the start of the matches, the players of all the participating teams were introduced to the chief guest Professor Dr. Azmat Hayat. Speaking on this occasion he said that sports and extra-curricular activities are integral part of a student life and it leads to a healthy body and fresh mind.

He said that although situation in this part of the country is not well but participation of such numbers of teams in the event is evidence that people want peace in this part of the world and all provinces have full faith on our arrangement.

Although we have remained world champions four times but Pakistan's performance in hockey is not well for the past few years. However, we know this very fact that this country has produced legendry hockey players over the years and this very ground has produced players like Qazi Mohib, Rashid Junior, Brig. Hami, and players like Akhtar Rasool, Samiullah, Kalimullah, Hasan Sardar, Shahbaz Senior and Junior and many more players exhibited their skills on the same grassy surface. There is no reason if the current young players show such commitment then we can definitely regain our lost pride in hockey.

He appreciated the efforts of Bahre karam, Director Sports for organizing such an event and praised his efforts for keeping University Sports at par with the national level. The final of the Championship will be played on April 9. Registrar University of Peshawar Sherinzada Khattak, Controller Examination Iftikhar Hussain Khan and other staff members were also present in the opening ceremony.

Earlier, in the opening match UoC Punjab beat Islamia Bahawalpur by 3-2. Full-back Ihlaq Bhatti sounded the board in 13th minute while inside right Akmal and Asghar scored one goal each in the 34th and 50th minute while for Islamia Bahawalpur Usman and Kamran scored one goal each in the 24th and 60th minute.

In the second match GCU, Faisalabad defeated Hazara University by 8-0. Zeeshan Akhtar, Furqan and M. Imran scored two goals each in the first session while Mohsin Nawaz and Hasnain Ahmad scored one goal each to make 8-0 tally. The matches were supervised by Qazi Najum-ur-Rehman, Abdul Baseer, Farmanullah and Naeem Khan while Salim Khan and Yahya Jan acted as field judges. App

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